New York, NY, November 19, 2021: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded Medscape Education a 5-year cooperative agreement to design continuing medical education (CME) activities related to the care, management, and prevention of hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
These peer-reviewed and accredited continuing education (CE) activities will be developed with the goal of improving healthcare professionals' knowledge and skills related to the screening, evaluation, treatment, and management of these diseases to support national viral hepatitis elimination goals. Hepatitis B and hepatitis C disproportionally affect Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indians/Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic Black persons as well as people who inject drugs.
“Inequities related to screening and treatment continue to persist across these populations," said Douglas Kaufman, Group Vice President of Medscape Education. "Underlying factors such as social determinants of health, medical mistrust, implicit bias, and other factors, negatively impact patient outcomes. By enhancing clinician knowledge and competence, Medscape Education’s CME program will target an area of significant need, which we believe will positively impact clinician behavior and in turn, patient outcomes."
Healthcare professionals can access the program through a dedicated destination on Medscape.org. The activities will be available free of charge to Medscape's US membership of more than 780,000 active physicians and three million healthcare professionals, including nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants, and other professionals. In addition to CE activities, resources such as condition reference guides and drug reference links will offer continuous professional development via the Medscape platform.
"CDC looks forward to the work Medscape will do with this funding in support of CDC's ‘National Viral Hepatitis Education, Awareness, and Capacity Building for Communities and Providers’ program,’” said Carolyn Wester, MD, MPH, Director of the Division of Viral Hepatitis at CDC. "This funding will have an important impact on the development and dissemination of high-quality clinical training devoted to improving healthcare professionals' clinical management of hepatitis B and hepatitis C."
The curriculum will launch in early 2022 and will be available at www.medscape.org.
About Medscape Education
Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free CME and CE courses for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Medscape Education is part of the WebMD Health Network.